


Vanquishing heights

by Menatiera



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fear of Heights, First Meetings, First meeting: help out the stranger who can't cross the street on his own, Gen, Meet-Cute, Modern AU, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Slash, no powers au, winteriron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-08-09 18:21:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16455005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Menatiera/pseuds/Menatiera
Summary: When Bucky is in distress due to a panic attack in public, a stranger approaches him to help.The stranger is clearly not a true New Yorker, but for once Bucky is actually grateful for that.





	Vanquishing heights

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rudearrow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rudearrow/gifts), [cpt_winniethepooh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cpt_winniethepooh/gifts).



> A quick little ficlet, inspired by Ru's story they shared in the Winteriron Discord Server.  
> I love you all guys, I hope you liked this :)
> 
> Betaing and title credits belongs to the amazing [@cpt_winniethepooh](http://cpt-winniethepooh.tumblr.com/). She not only came up with the title idea but also betaed the fic and corrected my grammatical and stylistic mistakes. It's not the first time she did this, and I really hope not the last either, despite that I'm an ungrateful bastard.  
> Love you, Winnie. <3

Bucky was afraid of heights. There wasn’t anything shameful about that, okay, he knew that. He hadn’t been exactly comfortable about being on the high ground since the beginning, and that nasty accident during his army days when he had been almost kicked out of a train and had had to hang above a ravine for what felt like an eternity – well, that incident didn’t help the problem at all.

So he avoided heights to his best ability. Only. The trains in New York City tended to go… well, not on ground level.

It was kind of alright once he got on the train, but getting there… that was an entirely different story. Bucky felt stiff as he cautiously seized the stairs. He was careful not to look down, staring forward to the next step only, yet he was feeling nauseous already. Damn.

Not a promising start.

It just got worse once he stood at the top of the stairs. The light breeze caressing his skin felt like thunderous wind, and the noise of traffic ground on his nerves, reminding him the rattling of _that_ train. He froze, unable to move forward, shutting his eyes and forcing himself to take deep breaths through his nose.

Pedestrians walked past him, unbothered.

It was just New York. The city that raised him. He wasn’t in any danger. He wasn’t in a warzone. He wasn’t even that high. He could rationalize the shit out of this.

An unexpected gust of wind nearly toppled him over, not because it was anything powerful to imbalance him, but because he staggered back to grab the handrail so clumsily. He probably looked like a lunatic or a drunk as he nearly tripped over his own feet.

 _Focus on breathing._ Dammit, he really had to get to the train – Becca would be worried if he were late. His palms were sweating as he clambered the cold metal railing.

“You alright?” a voice asked. Bucky only opened one eye to peer at the speaker.

The man in front of him was young – in his mid-twenties, maybe – short and lithe and sported an adorable goatee and had a shy smile and honest concern was shining in his hazel eyes. Bucky catalogued the features like it was the most important task at hand. His therapist would’ve been proud of him.

Not like it was hard, since the man was also ridiculously handsome.

“You need help?” the man asked again, apparently even more concerned by the lack of answer.

Bucky was amazed. He was probably not a New Yorker – a true local would never have stopped to help anyone, Bucky could always count on their ignorance.

“Uhm,” he said, rather intelligently. “I’m… fine, yeah,” he said, but his voice was too high-pitched to be believable.

The stranger didn’t step closer, but didn’t go away either. “You don’t look fine,” he said instead. “Are you hurt?”

Bucky shook his head. “Just… heights are. Just. Not my friend,” he admitted finally. It was easier to confess a weakness to a stranger, and if he pitied Bucky, or ridiculed him, well, it wouldn’t hurt as much as it would from a friend.

“Ah, I see,” the man nodded and looked thoughtful for a few moments.

Bucky wondered what made him ask in the first place. What made a well-dressed, handsome newcomer with a Starbucks cup in hand ask the scary local punk with a resting murder face if he’s alright. Well, apart from the fact that the local punk was clearly in distress, but Bucky preferred to ignore that part.

“I guess you are heading to the train, am I right?”

Bucky could only nod, his throat was so locked up. He really needed to catch the next ride, or get the hell out of here to be able to call Becca that his visit wasn’t gonna happen today. Becca would probably understand. She knew Bucky still had his occasional bad days, and therapy didn’t magically erased them – not like their mother liked to think.

“Okay, what if I hold your hand? Would that help?” the man’s voice dragged him out of his thoughts, and Bucky abruptly looked up at him, only realizing now that he had shut his eyes again.

The offer was ridiculous. It was childish. It was also what Bucky wished the most now that it was mentioned. “Would you?” he asked, still uncertain.

The man smiled, and his whole face lit up with the gesture, and Bucky’s breath was caught for an entirely different reason. So far the stranger was just handsome. With that smile, he became absolutely _gorgeous_.

“Sure, why not,” he said. He stepped forward and slowly grabbed Bucky’s hand, watching his face during the whole process, studying to see if he was overstepping any boundaries.

He wasn’t.

His palm was warm and comfortable and soft, and much smaller than Bucky’s, yet Bucky instantly felt better by the contact.

“I’m Tony, by the way. Let’s go, shall we?”

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to know about me or my writing, check [my tumblr](https://menatiera.tumblr.com)! Also if you're 18+ the Winteriron Discord is an awesome place! ;)


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